Chapter 139: Doing Whatever You Want
"What kind of Captain is this?"
Lieutenant Commander Barlow's voice cut across the meeting room, sharp with indignation.
"He ignores discipline on the very day he takes office and leaves all of us waiting here like fools. Does he think we're monkeys? This isn't boldness. This is childish recklessness!"
His words struck a chord with many of the officers present.
The Navy was a strict organization. Rank, order, procedure—these things formed the bones of the institution. Even if Axel was only a child, he had been appointed Captain, and they had gathered outside to await his arrival.
Instead, the only news they received was that he had vanished.
At first, most of them found it unbelievable.
Then came anger.
The appointment itself had already been hard to accept. A child becoming their commanding officer? That alone was absurd enough. But disappearing on the day of his inauguration?
Did he not understand what kind of day this was?
Anxiety spread through the room.
Would their future really be safe under such a superior?
If this atmosphere continued, it would be difficult for Axel to command the base once he arrived.
Lieutenant Commander Levi saw that clearly.
He had once served under Garp, though only as an ordinary soldier at the time, and he had never forgotten the favors Garp had shown him. For that reason alone, he could not sit by and let the situation turn completely against Axel.
"There was never a mandatory order for Captain Axel to appear at this specific time," Levi said, stepping forward to mediate. "We assumed he would arrive then. We shouldn't blame him without knowing the circumstances. He may have had an urgent reason for leaving."
The explanation was reasonable.
Unfortunately, it did not convince many people.
Even if Levi was not wrong, the officers had still been made to wait for nothing. They had already been embarrassed, and people rarely became fair-minded when their pride had been stepped on.
Barlow would not let such a favorable chance slip by.
"Lieutenant Commander Levi, even if that is true, his actions were still irresponsible. In this era crawling with pirates, who would dare entrust their life to a commander like that?"
That sentence landed heavily.
They had recently fought a group of pirates, and the brutality of those men was still fresh in everyone's mind.
On a battlefield, a commander's incompetence could cost lives.
Everyone only had one life.
If they were going to risk it, they naturally wanted someone reliable above them.
Several officers who had been leaning toward Levi fell silent. Their expressions shifted.
Seeing the opportunity, Barlow turned toward Commander Yulia, who sat at the center of the room.
"I believe it is necessary to hold a vote and decide whether we should submit a request to Headquarters to revoke this appointment."
Within a base, if more than two-thirds of the officers agreed, they could submit an application to Headquarters requesting the removal of a commanding officer. Whether Headquarters approved it was another matter, but the request itself would carry weight.
Yulia slowly opened his eyes.
He was not surprised that Barlow had made such a proposal.
Barlow had always been impulsive.
But Yulia did not object.
"Then let us vote."
Since even Yulia, the highest-ranking officer currently present and normally the mediator among them, had agreed, no one raised an objection.
The vote began quickly.
In the current atmosphere, the result was almost inevitable.
Those in favor of requesting Axel's removal far exceeded two-thirds.
Yulia looked at the gathered officers and announced in a clear voice, "Then I will declare the result of this vote. By majority decision, this base agrees to submit a request to Headquarters for the removal of Captain Axel from his post."
Levi could only sigh.
There was nothing more he could do.
Yulia continued, "Now, let us discuss the related matters—"
The conference room door opened.
Slowly.
Every gaze in the room turned toward it.
Axel walked in with a piece of meat dangling from his mouth.
His wooden sword was not tapping against the floor this time. Instead, it rested casually across his shoulder. Hanging from the end of it were more than a dozen pieces of meat, tied together and swinging slightly as he stepped inside.
"How are you going to continue the discussion?" he asked.
His words were a little muffled by the meat in his mouth.
"No need to stop just because of me."
Behind him, the Marine guard stationed outside the door looked helpless.
He had tried to stop Axel.
Unfortunately, Axel had only looked at him and said in the calmest voice possible, "Dare to stop me? Believe me, I'll arrest you for assaulting a superior officer."
The guard knew it was a threat.
A shameless one.
But assaulting a superior officer was a serious crime in the Navy. At minimum, it could mean one or two years in prison. Even knowing Axel was forcing his way in, he had not dared to physically block him.
Before Axel entered, the guard had shouted several warnings into the room.
No one inside responded.
It was as if the meeting room had been stuffed with earplugs.
Only when Axel pushed open the door and the guard saw everyone's stunned expressions did he realize he was probably about to become the scapegoat for this incident.
Axel's sudden arrival plunged the room into silence.
The atmosphere turned deeply awkward.
After all, they had just been discussing how to remove him.
Even if Axel was young, he was still their superior. Now that he was standing in front of them, the anger in many hearts weakened, replaced by a faint unease.
Barlow could not allow the momentum he had finally built to collapse.
He raised his voice.
"Captain Axel, this base has just voted to request your removal. You are no longer qualified to step into this meeting room. Not even being Vice Admiral Garp's grandson changes that. I hope you will cooperate."
Axel chewed slowly.
Then he thought about the relevant Navy regulations.
There was indeed such a rule.
However…
"I remember that even if the vote passes, my position does not change until the result is reported to Marine Headquarters and approved, correct?"
Barlow's expression stiffened.
How did this kid know the regulations so clearly?
Still, he forced out a smile.
"I believe you may be mistaken—"
Something flew through the air.
A piece of meat shot from the end of Axel's wooden sword and smashed directly into Barlow's hand.
The force knocked him off balance.
He fell to the ground with a thud.
Axel looked at the fallen meat and sighed with genuine regret.
"What a waste."
Then he walked to the center of the meeting room.
Yulia stood up and stepped aside without a word.
Axel gave him a meaningful glance, then slowly sat in the central seat.
From there, he swept his gaze across the officers below him.
His eyes were sharp.
Disdainful.
Almost like an examiner looking over a group of unqualified candidates.
The officers felt a chill crawl up their backs.
Levi looked at Axel and could not help thinking, So this is Vice Admiral Garp's grandson.
He had witnessed Garp's strength before.
He had also witnessed that man's unconventional way of doing things.
In that sense, it was perfectly reasonable that Garp's grandson would not be normal either.
Axel leaned back slightly.
"Listen up."
His voice was not loud, but it cut through the room.
"From this moment on, I am in charge of this base. Your vote is invalid."
The room erupted.
The vote had been created precisely to prevent unfit officers from ruining a base. It was an official channel. A legitimate procedure.
How could Axel simply declare it invalid?
His domineering tone immediately drew resistance from many officers.
Barlow, still on the floor after being knocked down by the water-soaked meat, was the first to speak.
"You think you can invalidate a vote just because you say so? Even if you are the highest-ranking officer in this base, you don't have that authority. Your removal is only a matter of time!"
Axel honestly did not want to discourage him.
Sengoku's main purpose in appointing him was to keep him away from the Celestial Dragons, preventing the truth from creating a direct clash between them and the Navy after any investigation.
Under those circumstances, how could Headquarters possibly remove him just because this base submitted a request?
Axel looked toward a nearby Marine officer and pointed at Barlow.
"Arrest him."
The officer froze.
"Eh?"
"For assaulting a superior officer," Axel said.
The officer stood there in confusion.
He suspected this was just a child throwing a tantrum, and for a moment, he did not know whether to obey.
Barlow laughed.
"As I thought. A child."
The words had barely left his mouth when a sharp light flashed from Axel's hand.
A sword aura tore across the room.
It sliced past Barlow, leaving a deep gash in the floor, then burst through the wall and flew outside.
Silence crashed down.
After releasing the sword energy, Axel used the tip of his wooden sword to hook the rope around the fallen meat, lifting it back to the end of the blade.
Then he spoke calmly.
"Add another charge."
His eyes returned to Barlow.
"Vandalism."
The officers stared at the cut in the floor.
Then at the hole in the wall.
Then at Axel.
The strength he had displayed was even more exaggerated than what the newspapers had described.
Barlow's face changed, but he still forced himself to speak.
"This is a frame-up. Even if you're a Captain, even if you have power, you cannot abuse your authority and do whatever you want to your subordinates."
Axel shrugged, looking almost helpless.
"Sorry."
He leaned back in the chair, the meat still hanging from his wooden sword.
"In this world, power and strength really do let you do whatever you want."
.....
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